Front Row Seat | "Bobber Bill" Abeler

Celebrating 75 and Warming Up for 100 When Camp Lebanon’s founders gathered in 1947 to establish a Bible camp west of Upsala on a wooded peninsula on Cedar Lake, do you suppose anyone at the time dared dream of all that God had in mind? Could they have imagined that one day 46 acres would grow to be 142? Could they see those huge army tents used for housing, dining and chapel someday replaced with air-conditioned cabins, a large dorm,

two hotel-like facilities, a modern shop, a rec building, and a huge lakeside Chalet equipped with an elevator?

And do you wonder if they foresaw the time when a few weeks of summer youth camp would blossom into a thriving year-round ministry serving 12,000 youth, families, and adults…with waiting lists?

Probably not, but these faith-filled visionaries could see the opportunity each summer to reach hundreds of boys and girls in Minnesota with the love of Christ. Churches were rallied. Funds raised. Cabins built. Ballfields created. Campers recruited. The rest, they say, is His-story!

Eighty thousand summer youth campers later, Camp Lebanon strives to shine an ever bright light for the Gospel with a

plan for an expanded outreach in years to come. A multi-purpose gym is in the works. Then comes a North 40 Lodge, a second ministry site, and someday a new dining hall to complete the Master’s Plan. As one early leader declared back in a 1948, “There’s no law against dreaming!”

When Camp Lebanon turns 100 in 2047, all gathered to celebrate will marvel anew at how God again exceeded our wildest dreams in using the site, facilities, and staff to ad vance His Kingdom! Let us then embrace His present charge to be grateful for His abundant blessings and faithful in answering His call to trust and obey.